When I have a good performance, I'm wrecked at the end of it. I feel completely empty, and tears are pouring down my face - I'm just gone.
— Tim Pigott-Smith
By early 1971, I had been acting professionally for 18 months - theatre work and my first telly, an episode of 'Dr. Who.'
When 'Jewel' was screened, old friends from school and university got back in touch. More than one of them told me that their partners hated Merrick so much they could not think of having me in the house. This kind of audience identification does not happen in any other medium.
You wouldn't read 'Anna Karenina' and try to work on the computer at the same time, would you?
Slower television actually credits the audience with a higher level of intelligence.
I always remember to go on the Staten Island Ferry because it's the most amazing view of New York. And it's free! You see Ellis Island, and it conjures up something of that great moment: you know, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. It's staggering.
People wrote about me and started calling me a star, and I just hated it. There are aspects of it that are great - I mean, you can ring up any restaurant and get in, can't you.
I have only met Prince Charles once, when he was very charming and easy to chat to. I have always had a soft spot for him, and I admire our constitutional monarchy, but Charles often comes across as eccentric, and he has a mixed press.
As a child, we lived in flats, and I was never allowed pets.
You never learn to act in front of a camera. You never learn anything in front of a camera. But you learn to act in a rehearsal room with a good play and a good cast and a good director.
The worst nickname I ever had was Tim Pig-ears-Smith. I had big ears. When I was younger, it was more pronounced. So I felt huge sympathy towards Prince Charles over that.
America is very generous, but it's also a bit wacky, you know.
After a West End run, in which I was promoted to Laertes, I joined the RSC in 1972. I had fulfilled my dream.
The Almeida's artistic director, Rupert Goold, brought me Mike Bartlett's 'King Charles III' with the slightly apologetic warning that it was in blank verse, but, of course, that appealed to me.
It's not legally possible to put an image of a member of the royal family on the Tube!
What a wonderful life I've had - absolutely amazing.
In England, anybody who was alive remembers an interview between the press and Charles and Diana, right after they became engaged. One of the press asked Charles if he loved her. And he said, 'Oh, well, whatever love means.' Boy, it was a terrible answer.
I've played quite a lot of real people, and it carries a special responsibility.
